Category Archives: UAE

Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Politics, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, Cairo, Corruption, Egypt, Gulf states, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE

Arab Absolute Monarchs Funding Democracy in Egypt? Democratic People’s Republic of (Saudi) Arabia………

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      BFF

“A mini-crisis of sorts erupted between Egypt and the United States over foreign funding. The spark was probably the congressional testimony of the new US ambassador to Cairo, Anne Patterson, in June, in which she said that the US was earmarking $40m for USAID democracy and governance spending…………..Fast forward to this month, and the question of foreign funding is changing tack. A few days ago, the Egyptian press revealed (from government sources) that several of the largest transactions to civil society organizations have come from the Gulf, not the West. The numbers are quite telling. According to these reports, over LE181m ($30m) was given to the Ansar al-Sunna association, a very conservative religious group, by Qatar’s al-Thani Foundation. Kuwaiti and Emirati religious associations also donated significant sums, ones that dward(sic) what secular human rights groups might be receiving at the moment…….…”

Last time I looked, neither the al-Thani nor the al-Nahayan were on the verge of changing their own quasi-feudal fiefdoms (Qatar and the UAE) into model democracies. Anymore than than al-Saud are about to declare a Democratic People’s Republic of (Saudi) Arabia. I mean these are the same people who tried to keep Mubarak in power, they even got pissed off at Obama for not ‘somehow’ keeping him in power (Qatar excepted in this case). Last time I looked, they were all clinging to power and inherited privilege at all costs, and I mean ALL costs. Now their Salafi allies are trying to influence the elections in Egypt, nay trying to buy the elections in Egypt.

(Come to think of it, how about a Great Jamihiriya Socialist “Emirates” Republic of Al-Nahayan?)
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, Culture and Sports, UAE

UAE Crime Alphabet Soup: from a Local Ms. Bobbitt to Other “Cultural” News………….

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Headlines of the ‘court’ section of UAE newspapers are quite interesting. I think they reflect something about the culture of the country, the true culture of the population mix These are samples of the most recent in The National:

“A maid accused of cutting off her 77-year-old sponsor’s penis with a razor told the court today she was defending her honour. “I did what I did in revenge for all what he had done to me, your honour,” JN, 26, from Bangladesh, told Judge Hamad Abdul Latif at the Criminal Court of First Instance. When the the judge asked her why was she crying, she said, “Because I am sad, because he is in my father’s age.”………”

“The conviction of an Iranian office assistant, sentenced to 10 years for breaking into a woman’s home and raping her, was upheld today in the Dubai Court of Appeal. The 36-year-old SA was drunk during the incident in February. He was convicted of rape, trespassing and consuming liquor. The Indian victim, a service consultant, told prosecutors SA rang her doorbell about 4am. ………”

“A man tied up a trader, robbed him and beat him into giving up his ATM PIN code, a court heard this morning. MW, 31, Afghani, was charged with detaining SJ, also from Afghanistan, binding his legs and arms with tape, assaulting him, threatening to kill him, and stealing his money……….”


“A Frenchman who was refused drinks on a flight to Dubai after consuming three bottles of wine shouted abuse at an Emirates Airline crew, a court was told. AP, 35, smiled yesterday as he admitted at Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance to issuing threats and consuming alcohol on board flight EK74 from Paris to Dubai. AP threatened the Australian airline workers JL, 39, and DK, 29 on June 14, prosecutors said. JL testified that two hours after the flight took off, AP was intoxicated but still ordering DK to bring him more wine……….”
This man consumed three bottles of wine on a single flight. Only a true Frenchman can do that, or a wino at Pershing Square in downtown LA. And to think that this shrimp threatened an Australian! Whatever happened to that Crocodile Dundee image?

“A one-year sentence for a woman convicted of posing as an Emirati to work as a prostitute was upheld this morning at the Court of Appeal. MT, a 29-year-old Palestinian, was arrested in a sting operation and denied the charges. She was convicted of using another’s identity card, impersonation, obstructing justice and obtaining lost money…………”
You’d think she had impersonated Mary Magdalene not just some anonymous UAE chick.
I especially like all the initial they use: JN and DM tried to assault
XY who was smoocing with FU who is her BF, but BA, who was visiting DC
at the time called the police using the cellphone of KZ. OR this: VK
gave birth to JL but could not prove she is married to WTF who is back
in Manila, so the doctor, PU called the police. Sometimes I suspect that
everyone in the UAE drops their real names and become part of an
alphabet soup upon arrival, it is a requirement especially if they
intend to commit a crime.
I think I shall start hitting the “Court” pages of Saudi and Iranian newspapers, there may be treasures there I am not aware of yet.
(All this can be categorized under Culture, or maybe Culture and Sport).
Cheers
mhg


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Iran, Iraq, nuclear Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, War on Iran, WTF

Nuclear Iran: Condi Rice’s Mushroom Cloud 2.0……….

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“Like the United States, they voiced particular alarm at Iran’s decision to move higher-grade uranium enrichment to an underground bunker — heightening their suspicions of its aims. “The absence of a plausible economic or commercial rationale for so many of the nuclear activities now being carried out in Iran, and the growing body of evidence of a military dimension to these activities give grounds for grave concern about Iran’s intentions,” British Ambassador Simon Smith said on behalf of London, Berlin and Paris. Davies said current IAEA monitoring of Iranian nuclear sites might provide some warning should Iran decide to “break out” and use its enriched uranium stockpile to develop nuclear bomb capability, but “that will come too late.”…………..”

Now it is: the plausibility, stupid! So, I had to go back to the earlier case: remember Iraq and Saddam and the smoking gun and the famous mushroom cloud? Here are some memorable quotes from the halcyon days of 2002-2003:

  • “We don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.” –National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice (2002)
  • “It’s a slam-dunk case!” –CIA Director George Tenet, discussing WMD and the case for war during a meeting in the Oval Office, Dec. 21, 2002
  • “We know where they are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.” –Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (2003)
  • “We know he’s been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.” –Vice President Dick Cheney(2003)
  • WEF?—-> “I think the burden is on those people who think he didn’t have weapons of mass destruction to tell the world where they are.” –White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, July 9, 2003
  • “British intelligence has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production.” –President Bush, 2003
  • “King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia repeatedly exhorted the United States to “cut off the head of the snake” by launching military strikes to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, according to leaked U.S. diplomatic cables….” Reuters (2010)
  • “The release of the BPC report in late June, and the Post op-ed today, coincide roughly with a revealing and important diatribe from the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al-Otaiba, who said this week that the UAE wouldn’t be unhappy at all if the United States bombed Iran’s nuclear program. “I think it’s a cost-benefit analysis,” said Otaiba, the representative of a notorious kleptocracy in Abu Dhabi…..” The Nation

Yada, yada, yada. Which in itself does not mean that the Iranians are not interested in nuclear weapons. It does mean, however, that Western intelligence can be totally stupid and can totally fuck up just a they did in Iraq. It does mean that some Iranian exile groups can also be self-serving in pushing the “nuclear bomb” issue, given that their intelligence sources are unreliable at best. There is a lot of fog around the Iranian nuclear program, some of it created deliberately by the Iranian regime itself and some of it, I suspect, by Western governments and their intelligence sources. Some of this fog is a result of ignorance and some of it is deliberate, on both sides.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Politics, UAE

A Vampire Saga of FH and ZN: From Transylvania to the UAE, Via Pakistan……….

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“DUBAI // A 31-year-old man is accused of threatening to drink a woman’s blood if she did not allow him into her apartment. The Pakistani worker, FH, has been charged in the Criminal Court of First Instance with issuing threats and inappropriate insults to an a woman from Azerbaijan. Prosecutors said he told the 43-year-old visitor ZN that he would drink her blood if she did not open her door. He is also accused of sending her an inappropriate text message. “He called me from different numbers and threatened to have sex with me,” she testified in records. Records show that he also threatened to have sex with her family members if she did not comply with his wishes. The records do not elaborate on how they knew each other…………..”

I think I’ll go back and reread Bram Stoker’s great classic, the book that started it all, the book that contributed to improving the quality of Halloween and made Ann Rice and Bela Lugosi rich and famous. Unfortunately Dracula also inspired Twilight on television and Count Chocula breakfast cereal.
(This corroborates my argument yesterday that lack of politics and political life in a society makes people do all sorts of weird things. The chief vampires need to relent and the people participate in politics. Political frustration, as much as sexual frustration, can lead to anti-social behavior unless one is a nun or, worse, a priest in charge of a bunch of kids).
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Politics, Culture, Mercenaries, UAE, Weapons deals, WTF

UAE: Politics, Devilish Violent Crimes, Generals and Potentates with Missiles……..

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      BFF

The following were recent headlines of the “Courts” page of a daily newspaper in the United Arab Emirates:


  • “Man says devil made him molest girl”
  • “
    Boys accused of raping man”

  • “Fake officer kidnapped, raped woman, court told”

  • “Army clerk forged signature of Chief of Armed Forces, court told”

  • “Student claims cousin raped her”

  • “Former footballer appeals against conviction in Dh5.5m citizenship scam”  

  • “Man threatened to drink woman’s blood, court told. She says he was trying to force his way into her apartment”

  • “Woman charged with illicit sex says partner was husband”

These are all ‘exotic’ crimes by any standard I can think of. This is what happens when there are no real politics to keep them busy, as in the UAE. The next most exciting thing apparently is violent sex and murder and robbery. Which reminds me: there is even less politics in Saudi Arabia, and I wonder what their police reports are like.

As for that army clerk who forged a general’s signature: I hope he has no access to all those fancy missiles the Abu Dhabi has been buying from around the world. The UAE is the second largest importer of weapons in the whole wide world and aims to be the first largest importer of weapons in the whole wide world. The import-deprived Iranian IRGC generals probably drool every time they read about all these advanced Western goodies landing in the warehouses of Abu Dhabi (I assume the mullahs also drool, just like all clergy including the Catholics). Now we don’t want some dipshit army clerk to start a missile war across the Gulf, do we? Only dipshit generals and potentates should be able to start a missile war.
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, Culture and Sports, UAE, WTF

The Suspiciously Lusty Ramadan Ghosts of Dubai……..

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“Located deep in the heart of Jumeirah 1, this seven-bedroom hotspot of paranormal activity is home to a group of Filipinos who claim to have experienced visitations for over a year now. Most unusual, perhaps, is Lora’s encounters with a male “spirit”. Lora’s spooky story began in November last year when she was awakened at 3am. “I felt an intense pressure all over my body, as though there was a person sleeping on top of me. I tried to sit up, but couldn’t move anything besides my fingers and toes. On the curtains I could see a dark shadow atop me,” she says. “A few nights later, I could hear a man moaning from my roommate Mary’s bed. At first I thought her husband was back from the Philippines, but a quick peak revealed Mary was fast asleep with that mysterious shadow on top of her reflecting on the wall.”……… Louise, a Filipino teacher who lives in one of the ground floor bedrooms, says she’s afraid to enter her own kitchen alone because she feels “a strong presence in the kitchen and the adjoining toilet. Often, the kitchen becomes exceedingly cold, or the bathroom door slams open and shuts, the flush goes off mysteriously….…..”

Obviously these male “spirits” have no respect for the holy month of Ramadan. Extra-marital intimacy is no-no in any month, even if the parties are male ghosts and Catholic women. Even if it is inadvertent. There is a lot of monkey business going on in that house.
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, Religion, UAE

Ramadan on the Gulf: Potentates Potentate-ing, Shaikh-ing it………….

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“UAE President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan received His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in the presence of General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, at the Rawda Palace in Al Ain on Tuesday evening. The President also received Their Highnesses the Supreme Council Members and Rulers of the Emirates, Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi of Sharjah, Shaikh Saud Bin Rashid Al Mualla of Umm Al Quwain, Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi of Fujairah, and Shaikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi of Ras Al Khaimah, and Shaikh Humaid Bin Rashid Al Nuaimi of Ajman who offered their greetings on the occasion of Ramadan. Shaikh Khalifa also received Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai’s Crown Prince, Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, Shaikh Sultan Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Salem Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, Shaikh Ammar Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Shatqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah, Shaikh Rashid Bin Saud Bin Rashid Al Mualla, Crown Prince of Umm Al Quwain, Shaikh Saud Bin Rashid Al Mualla, Deputy Ruler of Umm Al Quwain, and Shaikh Mohammad Bin Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince of Ras Al Khaimah. The reception was also attended by Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, other Shaikhs, Ministers, Executive Council Members, and senior officials. Shaikh Khalifa hosted an iftar banquet in honour of his guests…………..” Gulf News

Just a huge bunch of potentates doing what potentates do: that would be potentate-ing. In case you were interested in such activities.
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, Finance, GCC, Saudi Arabia, UAE

Saudi Arabia: a Political Statement or a Twenty Billion Dollar Phallic Symbol………..

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“SAUDI billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has launched a project to build the world’s tallest tower at more than 1000 metres in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. The project to built a tower topping Dubai’s world’s highest building, Burj Khalifa, “will soon see the light after the signing of a $1.2 billion agreement” between Prince Alwaleed’s Kingdom Holding Co and construction giant Bin Laden Group, the Saudi tycoon said. It will take 36 months to build the tower, said the Saudi businessman, a nephew of King Abdullah and one of the kingdom’s wealthiest men. He did not say when construction will begin. Prince Alwaleed said the tower was intended to “send a message of strength” reflecting the OPEC kingpin’s economic and political stability….The tower, which will be part of a $US20 billion ($18.29 billion) project north of Jeddah, would top Dubai’s 828-metre Burj Khalifa, which was opened last year……..“Our message is political,” he said…………..”

A political message at the cost of $ 20 billion.
What is all this obsession with tall(est) towers in the Middle East these days. First there was Burj Dubai, whom they changed to Burj Khalifa after Shaikh al-Nahayan who pulled the nuts of the Dubai rulers from the fire. Then there was talk of which tower is more ‘leaning’ the Tower of Pisa or some other UAE tower. Then the Saudis built the tallest clock tower in the whole fucking wide world: an ugly travesty right over the Holy Mosque, possibly built over the destroyed remains of some ancient Islamic monument (they princes have been busy destroying houses of the Sahaba of the prophet and other ancient monuments to build their high-rise money machines). Now they are going to build this: the tallest tower in the whole wide world, relegating the Khalifs (al-Nahayan) Tower to second class status. I bet the al-Nahayan will add a few stories on top of the Burj Khalifa to make it taller by about the proverbial ‘nine inches’. It is all symbolic phallic game-playing, I suspect. Maybe there are feelings of “inadequacy” somewhere and this si just another way of trying to make up for it.
(I figure a $ 20 billion makes as much sense as a $ 20 billion political statement).
Cheers
mhg



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Economics, UAE

UAE Rejoins the Third World: Petrol Shortages, Gas Lines…………

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“Across the northern half of the country, particularly in the emirate of Sharjah, long queues have formed, while scores of petrol stations have closed altogether. Many more drivers have headed south to fill up in Dubai, where there are still supplies but residents are looking nervously at “immigrants” driving in from neighbouring cities to fill up. The issue is now taking on political dimensions, as Sharjah’s government has issued instructions to petrol companies to solve the problem. Critical newspaper reports – rare in the UAE – and online comments have spread as what was originally thought to be a technical hiccup turns into an unexplained, lengthy conundrum. The companies, particularly the Dubai government-owned Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), have claimed the closed petrol stations were being “refurbished”. But there appears to be little evidence. …….”

As I noted in an earlier posting weeks ago, I can see the Iranians and Iraqis and other developing countries having these types of shortages. But the UnitedEffingArabEmirates? What the hell will they do if they ever came under sanctions and boycotts?
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, UAE

Woodstock in Abu Dhabi: Kumbaya and a Love-Fest on the Gulf………

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“Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Oh Lord, kumbaya
Someone’s singing Lord, kumbaya….
Someone’s laughing Lord, kumbaya…….
Someone’s praying Lord, kumbaya…..
Someone’s sleeping Lord, kumbaya…
Oh Lord, kumbaya……..” Pete Seeger (and others)

“The Poetry Academy of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) published selected poems by the late Emirati poet Hamad Khalifa Bou Shihab which were dedicated to the founder of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God bless his soul. The new release comes as part of the Academy’s publication of Bou Shihab’s whole works in a number of poetry series. The poetry selection was first published in the late 1980s and its second edition was released in 1991. ……. All the poems in the selection expressed deep emotions of love and loyalty to the founder of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who is credited with the development of the country and numerous achievements both at the local and Arab levels. At the introduction of the book, the poet wrote: “Sheikh Zayed of goodness has, by the will of God, united our nation, and brought about a brotherhood among our leaders. Sheikh Zayed of goodness is a perceptive man who transformed the barren desert into fertile gardens, whose fruits are easy to pick by everyone. To him I dedicate these sparking poems from one heart of many of the people of UAE who hold for him only the highest forms of love and respect.”……..”

Told ya, they’re all getting along, practically singing Kumbaya in the UAE. The place is a love-fest, except for anyone silly enough to dare and speak out for freedom of speech and democracy, etc. Like those academics and bloggers who are in prison on charges of trying to overthrow the regime by speaking out.

To put it succinctly (I have loved this term since my first day in graduate school): it is a fucking latter-day Woodstock in Abu Dhabi, just don’t breathe d too deep. As for the really nasty places like Manama or Riyadh or Tehran…….
(FYI: I suspect the nasty and unpopular sons of Zayed keep parading out their late father mainly because he was more popular than they are. Hell, anybody can probably be more popular, including a former executive of Blackwater).
Cheers
mhg


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